AKTUÁLIS HÍREK

Cyprus Looking at Tax Amnesty

25/07/2013

NICOSSIA – Cyprus intends to boost liquidity of the national financial system via a tax amnesty encouraging taxpayers to bring back any funds hidden overseas.

On July 18th the spokesperson for the government of Cyprus Christos Stylianides announced that new legislation is currently being drafted to introduce a tax amnesty on the repatriation of any assets and funds hidden abroad by national taxpayers.

The full details of the proposed amnesty are expected to be tabled in front of the House of Representatives within the next two weeks, and, if approved, would come into effect immediately.

Under the tax amnesty program, national taxpayers will be pardoned for any income taxes owed on the undeclared funds hidden abroad, on the condition that the capital must be repatriated back into the country and shall immediately be used to either purchase government bonds or be deposited with a national bank for a period of at least five years.

Christos Stylianides added that as the government of Cyprus is very sensitive to the issue of tax evasion, strong measures will be introduced to ensure that the amnesty scheme is not used as a means of evading taxes.

Currently there are no estimates as to how much funds the amnesty could bring back into Cyprus, but Christos Stylianides explained that at the moment, the country and its financial system desperately require extra liquidity, and any repatriation of funds is an immediate means of helping the national economic situation.